Humility - JewishPathways.com

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As much as we have to be on guard against arrogance, we should not fall prey to thinking that pursuing its opposite extreme is the answer, either. Absence of self-esteem does not represent a spiritual ideal. Some kinds of pride are necessary for the healthy soul. This idea corresponds to the essential tenet of Judaism that we are all invested with a soul that is breathed into us by God. Bearing that level of worthiness is an honor in which one might well take pride. We get support for this idea from the Bible, where we read in regard to King Yehoshafat, “His heart was high in the ways of God” (2-Chronicles 17:6). This is praiseworthy pride. So in being guided toward healthy humility, we are cautioned to avoid either extreme that flanks this trait. That’s good practical guidance, but it doesn’t address a primary question we need to ask, which is: What exactly is humility? The word “humility” sounds so much like “humiliation” that it’s easy to get a very wrong impression. In the traditional Jewish understanding, humility has nothing to do with being the lowest, most debased, shrinking creature on Earth. Rabbi Abraham Yitzchak Kook (1864- 1935), first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, says it well: <strong>Humility</strong> is associated with spiritual perfection. When humility effects depression, it is defective. When it is genuine, it inspires joy, courage and inner dignity. Being humble doesn’t mean being ‘nobody,’ it just means being no more of a ‘somebody’ than you ought to be. After all, Moses, the greatest of the prophets, is described in the Torah as “very anav [humble], more than any other men who were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). If a leader as great as Moses was so humble, then there is surely more to humility than the shrinking meekness we ordinarily associate with the term. 4
A Talmudic Insight A story in the Talmud helps us begin to get a sense of the distinctively Jewish understanding of humility. The passage begins: “The anivut [humility] of Rabbi Zechariah son of Avkulas caused the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem” (Gittin 55b-56a). This was a cataclysmic event in Jewish history that is still mourned today. How could a virtue like humility cause so terrible a catastrophe? To understand, we have to enter the story a bit earlier, when a man named Bar Kamtza sought revenge on the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem, by going to the Romans to claim that the Jews were rebelling. To prove his point, he told the Roman leadership to send a sacrifice to the Temple. Normally such a sacrifice would be offered up, but Bar Kamtza caused a minor blemish on the animal that was unnoticeable to the Romans, but which he knew the rabbis would see and so refuse to accept the offering. This refusal would be “proof” that the Jews were in rebellion against Rome. When the sacrifice came before the rabbis in the Temple, they noticed the hidden blemish, and understood immediately what was going on. One sage suggested that they offer the sacrifice anyway. Rabbi Zechariah ben Avkulas, however, argued that if they did so, people would draw the incorrect conclusion that it was permitted to offer blemished sacrifices. The rabbis then suggested that Bar Kamtza be killed to prevent him from telling the Romans and endangering the Jewish people. Rabbi Zechariah ben Avkulas responded again, by saying, “If we do so, then people will incorrectly think that those who inflict blemishes on sacrifices are put to death.” As a result of this unwillingness to accept either course of action, Bar Kamtza succeeded in his plan. The sacrifice was denied, and the Romans took this as proof of a Jewish rebellion. The Romans attacked 5
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Humility - JewishPathways.com

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